.:12:.


"Do you think Wells dates?"

The question had caught Caitlin so off guard that she nearly dropped the coffee mug that rested against her palms, cradled by her delicate fingertips, all over her laptop. If it wouldn't have angered her so much it probably would've been a good thing, she needed to stop looking at pictures of Tahiiti longingly. It just made her heart hurt more and more as the days passed.

Removing her hand from the mug, Caitlin deftly used her fingers to close out of the goggle images window, only to be rewarded with a picture of her and Ronnie smiling happily at the camera. With a slight sigh—more like a grunt of disgust—she closed her laptop. That was the second thing she had to do, change her computer background.

Turning her attention to Cisco, she noticed that he was still waiting for her answer, standing in the doorways, hands shoving into the pockets of his cargos, a stick of a lollipop hanging out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Do you think Wells dates?" Cisco repeated and then launched into his tirade. "I mean, it's been a while since the incident and I'm sure that many people find him attractive. He's not bad looking for his age and the whole being in the wheelchair thing should probably help with that whole vulnerable thing."

Caitlin's face scrunched up in confusion, which is something that typically happened when trying to decipher what it was that Cisco was talking about, and then leaned back in her seat. "What do you mean? What suddenly brought that up?"

Shrugging, Cisco took a step towards Caitlin, then backed up once more when he felt the blast of AC. "I was on my way here this morning and saw Wells at the fitness center." When Caitlin's eyebrows rose, he clarified. "I saw him there with Cadence. They were holding hands." He shrugged. "I mean if he likes younger girls that's fine; he can do whatever he wants. But that's kind of weird, right?"

For the first time in her life, Caitlin was at a loss for words. She had no fears of public speaking, could talk to just about anybody, and wasn't afraid to show people that she had a vast knowledge about anything she set her mind to, but once it came to the topic of Harrison Wells' dating life, she didn't know what to say. Not only should she not think about it—it wasn't her business, he deserved his privacy, he was her mentor—but what sort of woman did it make her if she bypassed all of his success, awards, and novelty just to gossip about his love life?

But then again…it was an interesting thought. Not that you're interested of course, she reminded herself, feeling a surge of heat move to her cheek. None of them knew anything about Cadence's past, they had opened their arms to her when she first came to STAR Labs and Caitlin could admit that most of it was due to the fact that Harrison had put in a good word for her. They had known each other for a long time, as it had been said, he had known of her abilities for a long time, and now she was part of their team. She hadn't thought there was anything else that could be going on between them.

Dating? Caitlin thought about it for a long moment then shook her head. No, she refused to believe that. "Like you said, he can date whomever he wants," she said, making a show of putting down her coffee. "But I don't think he's dating her. That's just…such a preposterous idea. For one, he's old enough to be her father. For another, that wouldn't be ethical. Dating one of your co-workers could be very detrimental to your work and everything else that is affected by them."

"Okay…" Cisco gave her a knowing look and she rolled her eyes in frustration.

Yes, she realized the split second after finishing her sentence that she had basically just thrown herself and Ronnie under the bus—she really had to stop thinking about him—and hadn't helped her case at all. But it wasn't like Cisco was demeaning her for it; he had been best friends with her fiancé and could admit at times that she had been jealous of their bromance. It was hard to tear Ronnie away from video game nights and wacky experiments that the two somehow managed to think was a good idea that ultimately had them call 911 so much so that the paramedics knew them on a first name basis.

But Cisco had also been the one that had been the first Caitlin and Ronnie told about their dating, before getting their blessing from Wells, and was the first one they had announce their engagement to. As far as Caitlin knew, she wouldn't have gone out with Ronnie or had been engaged to him if it weren't for Cisco as he was the one that told Caitlin to give him a chance after turning the young engineer down the first time he asked her out. Slated to be the best man, Cisco had truly cemented the spot as Ronnie's best friend and Caitlin's pseudo-little brother to the point she didn't know what she would do without having Cisco in her life.

She certainly wouldn't have been able to get through the explosion and the grief that came afterwards without him to go through it as well—Wells had been in the hospital and physical therapy long enough to miss most of the funerals—and probably wouldn't have been able to keep going if he wasn't there to always try and make her smile. In fact, after Wells had asked her and Cisco to continue working with STAR Labs, to look after Barry and track his progress, he was the one that had talked her into it. While the three of them were a team, she wouldn't be able to do anything without Cisco by her side.

"Shut up, Cisco." Caitlin gave a light laugh, twisting back and forth in her office chair. She motioned to the seat across from her. "Why don't you come in and sit with me? I could use some time to listen to your next theory over who Superman or the Arrow is."

Now Cisco gave her a funny look, making a show of taking a large step backwards. "No, thanks. I plan on keeping that chair permanently empty." Caitlin's next look was nothing but offensive. "Sorry, Cait, but your office is freezing and I don't plan on having my nipples turn blue then fall off."

"One; blue is a beautiful color,"—Caitlin stuck her tongue out at her friend as he rolled his eyes—"and two, it's not that cold in here." She never noticed the cold anyway; in fact, she had always thought it was kind of warm in her office that was why she always had the AC running. But…no one did seem to like sitting in her office for more than a few minutes before complaining, despite her sitting in a light blouse that revealed her elegant arms lacking a hint of goose bumps.

Cisco was about to reply, but was cut off by the sound of Harrison's vice coming through the speakers in the office. "Cisco, Caitlin, I'd like to see you out on the main floor. There is something of the utmost importance we have to talk about."

Caitlin gracefully uncrossed her legs and stood up straight. Smoothing down the back of her skirt she motioned for Cisco to follow her. They fell into step together as they head out to the main floor. Taking another sip of her coffee, it had started to go cold, she went back to the subject they had been talking about before because…honestly, she kind of wanted to know for herself.

"If you really want to know if Wells is dating, just ask him."

"Sure, and then I'll probably be relegated to cleaning the entire particle accelerator with a toothbrush."

"Wells wouldn't do that!"

"With his sense of humor, he might."

Caitlin and Cisco smiled at each other as they entered the main floor and spotted Barry, Wells, and Cadence were waiting for them. Cadence's arms were crossed over her chest, her windbreaker making a scratching sound against the fabric of her tank-top and lycra shorts as she shifted from foot to foot.

"We need to get your phone number, Cadence," Cisco said as the two came to a stop with their co-workers. "So it'll be easier to get in touch with you." He snapped his fingers. "And that reminds me to create an ear-piece for you suit, and maybe I can put in some flamethrowers or something as well."

Barry gave him an odd look. "If she controls fire, what would she need flamethrowers for?"

"I think Cisco's just using it as an excuse to build one," Caitlin said. "Kind of like the cold gun."

There was a brief moment of tense silence that filled the room and Caitlin winced, realizing her mistake. She turned to Cisco and gave a sheepish grimace, mouthing 'sorry' to him. Cisco managed a small smile in return.

"It'd be one hundred times better than the cold gun."

"What cold gun?" Cadence questioned.

"That's a conversation that we'd like to save for a later time, Miss. Nash," Wells smoothly broke in. He turned to Barry, training his blue eyes on him, and nodded. "Right now Mr. Allen has some interesting news regarding the explosion that he'd like to tell us. I understand that CCPD were at the scene of the crime last night."

Barry nodded, swallowing thickly. He thought about telling them, as soon as he saw them, about how he had seen his mother. But now he wasn't sure if there was a point. He was obviously just working hard and not getting a lot of sleep. He was imagining things. There was no other explanation as to why he would've seen his mother there.

"Well, we had been at the scene of the explosion last night got some of the initial investigation done, but…" he hesitated. "All we've got is a VA file number." At Cisco's glance of disbelief while he collapsed into his seat, Barry continued. "The CCPD has been taken off of the case by the army."

Cadence's eyebrows rose as she gave a low whistle. "They can do that?" She hoped her voice didn't sound as interested as it sounded to her.

"They can do a lot of things," Caitlin replied. "But I never thought they'd have the authority over something as small as this."

"Apparently it was under the orders of a General Eiling," Barry continued.

Then Wells made a sound that grasped the others' attention and he rested his hands into his lap. He paused for a moment, licking his lips before explaining. "General Wade Eiling. About ten years ago Eiling contacted STAR Labs to create an enhanced gene therapy for soldiers." He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, a dark look coming over his face. It affected him more than he wanted to lead on, that was obvious, however there was still something eerie about his next words. "But I was interested in the benefits for civilians. He really wanted to develop mind reading capabilities for interrogation purposes."

Cadence snorted loudly. "If he wanted to do that so badly, he could've just waited for the particle accelerator explosion. Maybe someone was getting their fortune told when they were hit by the blast." She said bluntly then looked around; realizing everyone else had merely looked at her. "Sorry, was that too soon?"

"Just a little, Cade," Barry replied.

She nodded and fell silent, listening once more.

"I stopped my studies when I saw what was going on, but let's just say that our split was less than amicable," Harrison continued.

Barry nodded. He hadn't thought there would be a lot of people that had wanted to speak to Wells after the explosion, and it was a harsh reality to think about, knowing that there had been so many that had wanted to work with him before everything that happened, happened. Despite the wheelchair the man was imprison in being a constant reminder of that, it had to be those that hadn't been affected by the explosion that made things even worse for him.

Clearing his throat, the speedy metahuman handed over the folder he had clenched tightly in his hand. "The army took everything apart from this folder." Wells gave Barry a look of gratitude and the metahuman turned towards Cisco, whose frantic typing had finally reached his ears.

"Name that matches the ID is Bette Sans Souci," he explained as Caitlin, Cadence, and Barry all went to the computer behind him to get a closer look at the data.

Cadence looked at the photo and gave a nod so small it was undetectable to those around her. Yep, it was the same girl she had met on the roof with Lucas and Breathtaker. So she's the one that blew up the office building. I wonder if this is Breathtaker's plan. The most worrying point was that if it was part of something the Assassination Bureau was a part of…how come she wasn't told?

"There's a lot of redacted info, but otherwise I've looked her up and found that she's…excuse me, she was a member of the EOD portion of the army." He sucked in a breath between his teeth as Barry brought a hand up to cover his mouth.

Caitlin tilted her head to the side, scratching the side of her neck. She willed her eyes not to trail over towards Wells, who was busy going through the contents of the folder, and focused on the picture of the woman that was on screen. "EOD?" she repeated.

"Bombs."

"Oh."

"D'you have an address?" Barry asked. He waited for Cisco to relay the information before nodding over at Cadence, who listened to the exchange quietly. "C'mon."

"Actually." Harrison's voice cut through the air and the two metahumans turned back to him. "Barry, you can go see if you can find Bette, I don't feel it'll be a two person job. While you're at it, I have some tests that I'd like to fun on Cadence." He didn't give the opportunity for protest as he navigated his wheelchair around and headed towards the medical bay of STAR Labs. Barry zoomed out of the room with a gust of wind.

"I'll bet he does," Cisco murmured to Caitlin, causing the bioengineer to smile in amusement.

The electronic grinding sound of Harrison's chair immediately stopped. "What was that, Cisco? Do you have something to say?"

Caitlin immediately moved in front of her friend, her natural instinct to defend him kicking in. She had seen how furious Wells was when he learned of Cisco's cold gun and didn't want that wrath bestowed upon him once more. Maybe he would be easier on her. Where'd that come from? She cleared her throat before speaking. "He was just saying that, earlier, he saw you and Cadence in the fitness center…kind of cozy…" she explained. Now Harrison turned around and regarded her with a hard stare, eyes flashing. "We're not saying it's any of our business what you decide to do in your free time, but we were kind of curious what your relationship with really Cadence is. I mean, she suddenly stumbled upon STAR Labs saying she was looking for Barry and you immediately brought her in." She turned to the fire metahuman who listened intently.

"No offense, but its not like we've had the best luck with metahumans as of late, we don't know if there's anything that'll happen."

More than you think. But instead of allowing the thought laced with mixed emotions to appear anywhere on her face, Cadence's nose wrinkled as she listened to Caitlin's explanation. "I can tell you it's not what you're thinking," the fire metahuman interrupted before Harrison could continue. "I'm not dating Wells." The expression on her face was the epitome of disgust. "It's like I've said before, I've known him for a while." She turned her head to the side, nervously scratching her neck. "He's an old family friend of my Mom's and Dad's. Other than that, I don't have a relationship with him."

Caitlin and Cisco, who had turned from Cadence and back to Wells, noticed that something strange had flashed through Wells's eyes as the brunette explained herself. Pain, maybe? But after a moment, the look was gone and he appeared amused. "As much as I enjoy the thought of you two discussing my dating life, which isn't as desolate as you would think, there are better times and places for that sort of conversation." He lifted a finger. "Now, the first thing that I'd like to do is run a CAT scan and an MRI. Considering the conversation that we had earlier, she's not afraid to show the extent of her abilities and I'd, first, like to see if there are any differences in her body to Barry's in means of the energy they both hold."

Following close behind the three STAR Labs workers, Cadence chewed her lower lip. There was a reason she didn't like to show off the extent of her powers. Apart from having been trained to hide it so much when she was younger, but because she knew how powerful she could be at times. One moment of distraction or losing control and things would go badly. Just like last time. She let out a deep breath and waited as Caitlin walked back and forth from station to station as Cisco and Wells perched themselves behind computers that would bring up the images from the scans.

"Alright, Cadence, I need you to lie down on this platform," Caitlin said, motioning to the scanning machine. "It'll take you inside and you'll have to lie very still to make sure that we get everything we need to see, alright?"

Cadence hesitated, feeling something grip her muscles. She slowly walked towards the young woman. "Do we have to do a MRI? Is there anything else that will do the same thing?"

"I assure you that this is the most efficient way," Harrison called to her. "And you have no need to worry. I trust Dr. Snow with my life, if I felt she couldn't handle this, I wouldn't ask her to fulfill the task for me." Caitlin smiled a bashful smile over towards Wells before going over to Cadence and gently placing her hand on her shoulder.

Now that she knew there wasn't anything going on between her and Wells—that had, strangely—made her anxiety go away, she knew she could fully trust the fire metahuman. She gave the shorter woman a peaceful smile. "I'll go as quickly as possible," she promised. "But, as I've said, I must ask you to hold still as long as possible."

Cadence gave a small smile back and nodded, before dutifully climbing onto the platform. She pressed her hands down onto the cool surface of the plastic beneath her and looked up towards the ceiling. Caitlin reached over and carefully pulled Cadence's hair up into a ponytail and gave her another comforting smile—sort of a mothering one—before disappearing from view. Cadence let out a deep, shaky breath and continued to stare at the ceiling. Each breath in and out became shakier and shakier and the fire metahuman let out a quiet yelp as the platform started to move into the machine.

She squeezed her eyes shut, hands shaking against the hardened plastic, beads of sweat starting to roll down her forehead. She could feel it start to warm under her hands. There was a brief hum and she could hear the machine start up around her. Cadence slowly opened her eyes and when she became aware of how close the enclosed tube was around her, her chest started to rise and fall in rapid succession.

"Cadence, I need you to stop moving," Caitlin called.

Cadence pressed her lips together, hoping to hold in her whimpers but she could hear them start to come out.

"Something's wrong."

The words barely got out of Cisco's mouth before a loud scream erupted from Cadence. She brought her hands up and started to slam them against the inside of the machine, hoping to find a way out of it. Her hands erupted into flames and as she continued to hit the inside of the machine, it left scorch marks but didn't burn. There was a rustling sound and the tray slid out fast enough that Cadence twisted and fell to the floor face first.

Caitlin and Cisco were them by her side, Caitlin's arm around her shoulders, gently rubbing them and Cisco holding onto a large water bottle. Harrison wheeled close, but still sat a few feet away, looking down at the three in utmost distress. Cadence took the water bottle and drank half of it before handing it back to Cisco.

She dropped her hands to her lap, shoulders slumping, then looked back and forth between the three before letting out a quiet, "Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic?" Causing Wells to smile and Caitlin and Cisco to burst out into laughter. Relief instantly moved over the metahuman's body and she brushed her hair from her face. "I-I would've mentioned it but…"

"Don't worry about it." Caitlin patted her not he shoulder. "I'll get the handheld scanner." She stood up and started to leave the room as Cisco leaned into the machine.

"Wow, this resists fire, too," he remarked. "Maybe I can use his material for something…"

Barry then arrived back at STAR Labs in his underwear, pulling a gray t-shirt over his head. Cadence stood up from the floor and slowly walked over to him. Barry glanced at her then at Cisco and Caitlin, who both were staring at him in confusion.

"Don't ask," he muttered from their intense gazes.

Caitlin held up her hands, silent.

"What happened to your suit?" Cisco demanded. His tone of voice suddenly did a one-eighty. Gone was the excitement as he thought about the newest thing he could invent, replaced with intense fury.

Cadence walked over to Barry and grabbed onto his shoulder. Standing on her tiptoes she brought her nose up to his neck and took a deep breath, before backing away. Tilting her head back, she looked up at him curiously as she tried to figure out the origin of the acrid smell that wafted from his skin, accompanying the scent of Old Spice. She recognized all reasons for something burning; electrical fires, grease fires, burning wood, anything that caught on fire created a different sort of scent. The flames that came from her gave off a sort of sweet smell. What was coming off of Barry was acrid and smelled, surprisingly of gunpowder.

"It blew up," she reported. "A bomb?" At Barry's nod she took a step back and looked him up and down. There didn't appear to be any mark on him.

"It blew up?" Cisco repeated.

"I don't know what happened," Barry defended himself. "I found her and was going to bring her back here, then she touched me and my suit exploded. She's not carrying bombs, she is a bomb! A metahuman! A metahuman that can create bombs from anything she touches."

Cisco took in the information with a slight nod, lower jaw moving to the side. He was clearly too preoccupied with the thought of his suit having blown up more than the news of the new metahuman. Wells, on the other hand, listened quietly to the news, fingertips pressed together.

"How can anyone so beautiful blow up my suit?" Cisco collapsed into his chair once more, bringing up the picture of Bette. He let out a sigh, as he stared longingly at it.

"Unless she didn't mean to hurt you," Cadence spoke up. She hopped no one noticed the way she looked at Bette's photo. "If she were trying to blow you up specifically, don't you think she would've tried harder?"

"And it would explain why General Eiling is so interested in her," Wells spoke up. He closed the folder and placed it on his lap. "Feel free to give yourselves the rest of the day off. I have some things that I need to take care of." He backed out of the medicinal wing and headed towards his office. Passing by Caitlin, he lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "I put a lot of faith in your decisions, Ms. Snow; please let me know if you think that continuing with the can of Cadence is needed. If not, I have some other ideas."

"Of course," Caitlin agreed. She watched Wells leave once more. If he's a family friend, wouldn't he have known she was claustrophobic? Then her next thought was the one that startled her. Unless he's trying to keep something from us. She had never had a reason to doubt Wells before, but now, with a strange, tightening sensation in her stomach, Caitlin Snow realized she might not know him as well as she thought. And it made her feel weird.


Cadence glanced at her watch before starting to pace back and forth. The soles of her black vans scraped against the ground as she continued to pace back and forth. Soon she heard footsteps coming her way and she turned, finding Bette slowly coming towards her, cautiously looking her up and down.

"So, I heard you blasted apart the suit of one of my friends," was the first thing Cadence said to the explosive metahuman. Bette's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I didn't think he was part of the Assassination Bureau," Bette said to her. Cadence gave a slight smile.

"He's not," she said. "Just like he wouldn't be part of the Suicide Squad." Now Bette's face turned hard and she moved towards the fire metahuman with a determined stride. "No, those factions work separately." She nodded towards Bette. "I mean, that's why Breathtaker allowed you to finish whatever it is you needed to finish before helping us with our assignment." She tilted her head to the side. "So you're the one that destroyed the office building last night…what was so important about that file?"

Bette looked at Cadence for a long moment, and then shook her head. It wasn't a dismissive head shake, but one that showed how…vulnerable she was. Cadence recognized the look on her face, one of anxiety, being stuck between two different choices that had to be made. "Do you ever wonder if things happen for a reason?" Bette changed the subject. "That we're the way we are…we joined the groups we did for a reason?"

Cadence thought about it. She didn't really remember when she had run into the Assassination Bureau or what it was about her that they had wanted. She just remembered the days after she had started working for them and that she still currently was. She didn't believe it happened to her for a reason more than she thought she had her powers for a reason.

"Why are you working for the Assassination Bureau?" Bette changed the subject. Cadence's eyes narrowed over at her. "If we're going to be working together…Suicide Squad and Assassination Bureau, I think I'm owed an explanation."

Cadence ran a hand through her hair. "For the money," she said.

Bette didn't appear surprised. She merely crossed her arms. "Monetary gain can be a pretty powerful thing," she remarked. "It can turn even the most level-headed person into a shell of what they once were."

"Money's not for me," Cadence said, though she didn't elaborate even further. She turned the tables back on Bette. "What about you? Why'd you join Suicide Squad?"

Now Bette smiled a little. "It gives me a better sentence than the one I was already going to have." She took a couple of steps backwards. "I'll see you soon."

Cadence nodded and watched her leave, waiting until she was out of sight before looking at her watch once more. She then teleported out of the area in a rush of flames and smoke and appeared behind the building across the street from the fitness center. She had just made it across when the city bus pulled up and the doors whooshed open.

"Hi, Mom!" Brady came flying down the steps, backpack in hand.

"Hey, bud." Cadence knelt down and opened her arms, giving her son a hug when he reached her. She took his backpack and slung it over her shoulders before taking his hand and starting down the street. "How was school?"

"Okay," Brady replied with a shrug. "It's school."

"You're only eight, Brady, you can't use the 'its school' excuse yet," Cadence playfully reprimanded him. "Save it for middle school at least. It'd keep me from worrying so much."

"You always worry, mom."

"You're right, but at least give me some peace of mind before I prematurely start to go gray."

Brady laughed, makin Cadence to smile. She really wouldn't know what she would be doing if she hadn't had him. Despite only being sixteen and terrified when her pregnancy was confirmed, she could never think of having aborted him. At first, her thought had been to give him up for adoption, and shortly before the deadline of the decision to be made; she felt him kick for the first time. Cadence had been sitting on the floor of her room, hands on her stomach as she tried to figure out the answer to the math problem when she felt the sudden pressure on her lower stomach. Slowly, she brought her hands down and rested them on the area that had taken the blow and whispered out a quiet, "Hello?"

She felt idiotic for trying to speak to the baby, but found it reacted, kicking her again. Cadence felt it under her hands. Smiling, she moved to another part of her stomach and leaned over—struggled to lean over—and spoke again. "Hello?"

There was another kick, the baby having followed the sound of her voice.

Cadence knew then that she couldn't give up her baby. Despite knowing there was a chance it'd have a better life, she couldn't bear the thought, not after the connection they had made. She suffered through verbal abuse form her peers as she decided to keep the baby, her parents' own embarrassment, and even then she still wouldn't make a different decision.

"Well, if you go gray that means you're old, and that means you can retire and spend more time at home," Brady said. The comment was so innocent, something he probably didn't think twice about. Still it hurt Cadence to the core. He knew nothing of their lives other than there being some people she had angered that had taken him, but he hadn't seemed to be too concerned about it, especially knowing the powers she had.

Still, she wondered if there would ever be a time where he would stop believing everything she told him and wanted to know the truth and how he would react when he was finally told. It worried her more than she let on.

"If I stayed home all the time we wouldn't have any money, remember?" She reminded him.

"Yeah, but then we can live with Mamaw and Papa. I miss them." Cadence grimaced at Brady's comment and looked away. She noticed Barry inside Jitters as they passed by. He must've noticed her too for he turned her way and waved. The fire metahuman waved back and turned to Brady. "Are you hungry? Soccer practice must've taken a lot out of you."

"Yeah!" Brady's eyes immediately lit up and, mirroring his other's enthusiasm, dragged her inside the coffee shop. He left her grasp and went over to the counter, taking in the menu and what they had to offer. Barry chuckled as he got up from his table and went to Cadence.

"I see he's not very shy when it comes to knowing what he wants," he remarked.

Cadence nodded as she crossed her arms. "Unfortunately that seems to be something he's gotten from me," she remarked, causing Barry to laugh. No matter how true that is. "So what are you doing here? I figured with your day off you'd be off doing…" she trailed off, realizing that she didn't know him well enough to know what it was he liked to do during his free time. "Whatever it is that Barry Allen does."

The speedy metahuman looked over his shoulder towards Iris, who was leaning over the counter, talking to Brady. "Actually, I was hoping that Iris and I could do something together. I mean, we haven't been able to do much with my job, STAR Labs, Eddie…"

"You feel like you're losing your best friend," Cadence remarked, to which Barry nodded. She wasn't going to press his having a thing for her again; he was very clearly a bad liar about it if even Caitlin and Cisco had noticed it. "I know the feeling; I lost my best friends when I left Metropolis. They didn't understand…they were always aware that I was keeping secrets. I guess it bothered them more than I thought."

"When'd you leave?"

After a slight hesitation Cadence responded, "When I was seventeen."

"That's kind of young, don't you think? Where'd you go?"

"I didn't think it was so young. Everyone that lives in Metropolis, for the most part, is pretty independent. We had to grow up that way. Not only was it a place that had a lot of successful business that were being run; LutherCorp, Queen Industries—"

"It's called Queen Consolidated now," Barry interrupted.

Cadence wrinkled her nose then twisted her mouth to the side. "It's a better name, I suppose. Places like that are the ones that run the city. And then there are the smaller businesses that most families of Metropolis own. So you're either gonna be trapped in the pitfall of working with your family or you find some way to get out." She held up a hand. "Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to live, and if you get tired of the city you can always go to Smallville. There's always something to do."

"Doesn't sound like a place I'd leave, honestly," Barry said. He turned towards the table he had occupied before and Cadence joined him. "Kind of like Central City. I've never left."

"Not even after what happened to your parents?" Cadence looked up as Brady walked over with a large chocolate chip cookie in his hands. He broke off a part and handed it over to his mother, who gave him a grateful smile and took a bite.

Barry gave a sad smile. "No," he said honestly. "I made a vow that I wouldn't leave until I found out who killed my mom."

Brady's eyes widened at the words. "Someone killed your mom?"

Cadence nodded and turned towards him. "This is Barry Allen. He, Detective West, and Detective Thawne helped me find you."

"Oh. Hi!"

"Hi." Barry replied, chuckling as Brady went back to eating, bust listened intently. "After she was murdered and my dad went to prison, I went to live with Joe and Iris, but I didn't give up trying to figure out what happened. It was that and Joe's influence that made me think about working for the CCPD. And even if I do find the guy, I don't think I could leave. I love it here. Its home."

Cadence's eyebrows furrowed. "But aren't you lonely?" He had people around him that cared for him. There had to be times he was lonely. In ways that he couldn't let people know about his powers; ways that were clearly tearing him and Iris apart as he became closer and closer with Caitlin and Cisco on a daily basis.

"Weren't you?"

The fire metahuman nodded. "I didn't understand for a while, how lonely I was. I had all these friends…but then I didn't have anyone around me that really understood me. What I was going through. It was like living separate lives. A part of me I couldn't tell anyone. There's Superman and the Arrow, or whatever he calls himself, but…I never truly got over being alone. And with that loneliness…I've made some mistakes." Cadence shrugged, looking Barry in the eye. "But you can't learn if you don't make mistakes, right?"

"Right."

Stricken, Brady looked up at his mother. "You're not alone, you have me!"

"And me," Barry agreed to which Cadence smiled. Barry leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, tilting his head towards Brady. He turned a friendly smile on Brady. "So how does she treat you? She doesn't give you a hard time, does she?"

Chewing thoughtfully, Brady shrugged. "Sometimes, she worries. But my mo—"

"Why don't you go see if they have chocolate muffins, too?" Cadence interrupted. Brady immediately slid out of his seat and went back over to the counter to ask for the item.

Barry shook his head. "You know he's going to be very hyper-active after that right?"

"Yeah, well, I've dealt with the little goober for years; I think I can handle his hyperactivity by now." Cadence brushed her hair out of her face, resting her chin in her hand as she watched her son. He was already talking a mile a minute to the waitresses about something and they listened to his every word. She turned back to Barry who had brought his coffee to his mouth, but looked at her with a smile in his eyes.

Cadence reached out and picked up the napkin that sat on the table in front of him, balled it up, and threw it at him. "Shut up, Barry."


A/N: I don't think Tahiti was the honeymoon Caitlin and Ronnie were talking about, but I really can't remember what it was. Do you think the pacing of the story is okay? I originally intended to be done with the Platique episode by now but I kind of like where it's going. You will see the extent of Cadence's power soon.

While you're at it, check out my sister's Flash story The Mark of Sage written by Crystal Manning. My other sister, whom shares this account with me, is writing a flash story as well entitled, In a Flash, that you should keep an eye out for when it's published.

Thanks to GirrafePanda2, Alisha Winchester Collins, dontstopbelieving123, Castiel Angel Heart, bruno14, bronzelove, babyj, and Guest for reviewing and thanks for everyone that's favorited, alerted, and reviewed. I take constructive criticim

Review Reply

Guest: I plan on having Team Flarrow come in when it's the crossover episodes and continuing to have them there afterwards. But if anyone has any suggestions to bring them in earlier, then I'm all ears. I really loved the crossover and those characters (though I've only watched a few episodes of Arrow) and it'd be cool to bring them in earlier if possible.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone.

Cheers,

-Riles